


Alliance

by RedTeamShark



Series: With My Little Eye [10]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, F/M, Gen, Gun Violence, M/M, Mercenaries, Minor Character Death, Minor Original Character(s), Violence, oc child - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-13 04:37:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9106900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedTeamShark/pseuds/RedTeamShark
Summary: With 5MG wanting them all dead, the members of 6 and the Hunters find themselves in an uneasy alliance, guided by Dan and Gavin. But are they being lead to safety or slaughter?





	1. Rendezvous

He expected to see Jack and Geoff at Base 3, of course, the other two members of the Hunters _not_ being there would have been alarming, to say the least. He did not expect to see four other people, though. Geoff’s wife, Griffon, and daughter sat on a couch off to the side, talking quietly with Caiti, Jack’s fiancé. Jack and Geoff were at a desk, leaned over and speaking quietly with a man that Michael didn’t recognize.

Stepping up to the trio around the table and frowning, Michael reached for the gun he always kept under his arm, only dropping his hand when Geoff signaled him to. “Michael, good of you to join us. We have a situation here.”

“Yeah, no shit. What’s going on now?”

Before anyone could answer, the man behind the desk cleared his throat, holding his hand out to Michael. “Cell phone, please.” The curly-haired man frowned, holding up his phone. “Not that one.” The dark-haired man shook his head just a bit and Michael’s frown deepened, before he remembered the phone he’d found in Gavin’s apartment.

He handed it over reluctantly, cringing slightly as it was immediately broken in half. “Sorry, but it could be bugged. We can’t take that risk. Free is working with us, my contact has assured me of that, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t get to his apartment first.”

“Will someone please explain what the fu—what’s happening?!” Michael snapped, clenching his fists and barely stopping himself from cursing in front of Geoff’s daughter.

“Right. Well.” The man stepped around the desk, folding his hands behind his back and regarding the room. “My name is Burnie. I work for 5MG, a group that wants all of you dead. I also happen to disagree with them. The man that contacted you, Mr. Ramsey, and arranged this meeting is going by the nickname ‘Bravo’ for now, for his own protection. He wants you each to take one of these.” Burnie produced a number of small communicator headsets from his pocket, handing them to Michael, Jack, and Geoff. “The situation is rather complicated, but know that you can trust me and you can trust Bravo.” His attention turned to the three women on the couch, looking concerned. “Miss Ward, Mrs. Ramsey and young Miss Ramsey. I’ll need the three of you to come with me. 5MG only sees you as collateral damage, so they won’t be looking for you specifically.”

“I’m not going anywhere without my husband.” Griffon snapped, her eyes flashing. “I can take care of myself, or are you choosing to forget what I almost did to you with my chainsaw?”

Michael’s eyebrows raised, looking over his shoulder to Griffon as he settled his earpiece in. She was definitely an intimidating woman.

The man named Burnie took a slight step back, shaking his head. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but it’s for your own protection. The three of you will need to get out and it’s my job to make sure that happens.”

Geoff stepped over to the couch, setting a hand on Griffon’s shoulder and offering her a small smile. “It’s best to listen to him, Grif. Don’t worry, I’ll be with you soon.” He leaned down, kissing her quickly, before his eyes darted to the rest of the room. “If we can have a moment together?”

“Of course. Pattillo, if you’d like to as well.” Burnie turned slightly, gesturing Jack towards Caiti.

Michael stood by the desk, awkwardly fiddling with his earpiece while the other two Hunters said goodbye to their families. “Where does Gavin play in all this?” He asked softly, looking over towards the taller man.

“He was a plant. Sent in by 5MG to take down the Hunters as well as 6. You’re both a threat to 5MG’s goals. He wasn’t meant to be revealed this early, however.” The man shrugged, looking away. “A lot of things changed in two years.”

“So why are you trying to get us out?”

The man’s attention turned back to Michael, a serious frown on his face. “Bravo did some digging and discovered that the ultimate plan was to kill everyone involved—the Hunters, 6, Free, even Bravo himself. After Free’s cover was blown he took matters into his own hands, selected a very few members that he could trust and began making arrangements to get you all out of here. Helpful that Free already planned to save you. Helpful and curious…” The man checked his watch, sighing. “I hate to cut your goodbyes short, but I really must insist that we move on. You’ll be reunited soon enough.”

“And what about us?” Jack asked as he helped Caiti shoulder a backpack, his eyes narrowed slightly. “You said so yourself, you work for people that want us dead. How are we supposed to trust you?”

The answer came from their earpieces, that British voice that Michael recognized from the phone. “If you couldn’t trust me, you’d all be dead already. Wives, girlfriends, and children included. Hello, lads, this is Bravo. Base one and two are blown and so are interrogation rooms one through six. You’re thorough, Ramsey, but we’ve had plenty of time. The only reason 5MG doesn’t know where you are right now is because Gavin never went there. Burnie, move out.”

“Sir.” The man replied, opening the door and gesturing the three women out with him. He shut it behind him, the three Hunters regarding each other in the sudden silence.

“They’ll be safe with him.” Bravo’s voice came back, a sigh just barely heard behind it. “Michael, you have a rendezvous to make. Hospital parking lot, area Echo 16. Get a car and head to the airport with him. Go.” Michael looked around, receiving a nod from Geoff. That was all he needed, heading out the door immediately. If Geoff wanted to trust this guy, then he would do it too.

He wondered just who he was meeting with, however.

–

Ray’s phone buzzed in his pocket, the Puerto Rican grabbing for the device with his good hand, unsurprised to see that “No Information Available” came up for the caller. Even with his advancements to the caller ID system of the phone, it was obvious that whoever they were dealing with had ways around the technology. Then again, if this guy really was working with Gavin, it wasn’t a surprise. He’d shown the Brit all about the system one afternoon after he’d asked, unthinkingly going on about its capabilities and limitations.

Unlocking the screen and tapping the button for speaker phone, he sighed. “So now what?”

“Glad you survived the explosion. After this call, chuck all your communication devices out the window. There’ll be new ones waiting for you where the three of you had your first date.” Ray and Ryan exchanged a glance, the older man raising an eyebrow.

“Alright. From there?”

“From there I’ll have further instructions. Just call Bravo.”

“Wait.” Ryan spoke up from the driver’s seat, signaling and turning down a side street. “How do we know we can trust you, anyways, ‘Bravo’?”

He’s got a point, Ray thought, running his fingertips lightly over the screen of his phone. This guy just hacked into their computer, after all, something that should have been impossible. And it was obvious he was working with Gavin, who they now knew was a traitor.

“You don’t, but that’s irrelevant. If you want to stay alive, you’ll trust me and the people I’m sending to help you. All of them.” There was a moment of hesitation, barely-heard voices in the background, before the man called Bravo sighed. “The second drop point will explain it more, alright? I’m just trying to keep you two alive.”

The call disconnected, Ryan immediately signaling and pulling into the parking lot of a fast food restaurant. He turned the car off, turning towards Ray and regarding him seriously. “How much do we trust this guy, Ray?”

Chewing his lip and looking at the phone in his lap, then his bandaged hand, Ray shook his head. “I feel like we don’t have a choice.”

Ryan nodded, reaching over and squeezing Ray’s shoulder lightly. “Yeah, me too.” He started the car again, backing out of the parking space and stopping at the trash can near the exit. Ray dumped their electronics from the passenger window, the pair of them heading for the highway. They’d have to get to the other side of the city for the first drop point and at this time of day the highway was the fastest route.

They were mostly silent during the drive, one of Ray’s hands resting lightly on Ryan’s knee, the older man’s attention solely on the road before them. Traffic wasn’t too heavy yet, but Ryan kept darting glances behind him, frowning. They weren’t being followed and that was almost more concerning than if they had been. If this ‘Bravo’ person was really telling the truth, there should have been some indication of it. Aside from the apartment blowing up, there was nothing.

The car rolled to a stop at the off ramp’s traffic light, Ryan’s attention flicking over to Ray. The younger man was obviously nervous, the events of the day weighing heavily on him. All he really wanted was a chance for the Puerto Rican to relax, to de-stress and forget everything that had happened. But they couldn’t, not right then, and he needed Ray’s undivided focus on staying alive. So, even though he didn’t want to, Ryan did what he had to.

“You let yourself get caught.” He said softly, eyes on the road before him as the light turned green and traffic started to move. Ray looked over, confusion in his gaze slowly melting towards hurt.

“I didn’t let myself—“

“You know damn well you did. Could have run, but nope. Ryan’s always gotta be there to protect you, Ray can’t do anything for himself. Fuck’s sake, you can’t even drive. Where would you be without me, huh?” His grip tightened on the steering wheel, knuckles white. He had to do this, he had to, he had to.

“Ryan, I di—“

“Just shut up.” Ray’s hand left his knee, but he didn’t glance over to see what the younger man was doing. “You were the one that trusted Gavin. You got us into this whole mess in the first place. Just the two of us, that’s all we needed and we were fine. But no, Ray’s always gotta have it his way. You ever stop to think about anyone but yourself?” He steered the car into the parking lot of the coffee shop, parking it and keeping his eyes forward.

The tiniest whimper of pain from Ray, but Ryan didn’t let himself turn, not yet. He shut the car off, blue eyes scanning the inside of the coffee shop through the window. “You ever stop to think how fucked up I’d be if I lost you? What am I supposed to do without you, huh, Ray?” He turned, wincing to see how tightly the other man’s hands were clenched, carefully leaning over and planting a kiss on his forehead. “I love you, alright? I need you here with me. Not back in Puerto Rico, not in that room with the Hunters. I need you right here, right now, and I need you on your game. Can you do that.”

Ray turned, grabbing onto the front of Ryan’s shirt and pulling him closer, kissing him fiercely. He kept his eyes open, brown locked onto blue, finally pulling away and nodding. “Alright. I’m here. Let’s… let’s do this.” His good hand found Ryan’s, offering a tentative squeeze. “Christ, I thought you were about to ditch me.”

“Nah, never.” Ryan squeezed his hand back, leaning in again and kissing his forehead. “Wouldn’t be me without you, you know that.” He let go, getting out of the car, the smaller man following suit. They headed into the coffee shop, surprised when the blonde woman behind the counter cut herself off mid-greeting and looked them over critically.

“A number six, right?” She asked softly, eyes darting around the café. Ryan blinked, looking around as well, before facing her again and nodding.

“Yeah, we’ll have a number six to go.” He agreed softly, letting his hand brush against Ray’s. The smaller man didn’t grasp onto him and Ryan relaxed slightly. Whoever had set this up wasn’t here as far as Ray could tell, then. That was good enough for him.

A surprisingly large bag was set at the end of the counter, the blonde woman offering a brief, nervous smile. “There are you. Um, you should go now—I-I mean have a nice day.”

Ryan took the bag, heading back to the parking lot behind Ray. He rifled through it, handing the mobile phone inside over to the younger man immediately. After a few seconds, Ray connected a call to Bravo.

“You two will have to split up.” The man called Bravo said immediately. Ray rolled his eyes.

“Good to hear from you too. What do you mean we have to split up?” The Puerto Rican frowned at the phone in his hand, shaking his head. “We stick together, its how we stay alive.”

“And I’m telling you that if you want to stay alive, you’re splitting up. Ray, head to the nearby hospital, lot Echo 16. There’s a pick-up waiting for you there—someone you can trust. He’ll secure you a car and the two of you will be heading for the airport. Ryan, you’re going to need a new car. Clear out the one you’ve been using and leave it. There’s a used car lot a couple of blocks up that doesn’t ask a lot of questions. The cash in the bag should be enough to get what you need.” Ryan checked the bag again, pulling out the two new communication devices and handing one to Ray. He also pulled out a large bundle of hundred dollar bills, carefully stuffing it into his pocket.

“Move out, 6.” Bravo commanded quietly. Ray and Ryan exchanged a look, leaning in and kissing again quickly before Ryan headed for the car and Ray began walking towards the hospital.

Lot Echo 16 and a mysterious but apparently trustworthy contact. What choice did he have?

He hoped Ryan would be okay, though.

–

Leaning back in his chair, Dan looked to Gavin over his shoulder. “Really wishing America had CCTV on every corner, b. It’d make it a lot easier to track them.” He cracked his back, sighing.

“Yeah, well, land of the free and all that bullcrap.” Gavin nodded, sitting forward slightly on the bed, resting his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. “The hospital will have cameras in the lot, which is good because Michael and Ray aren’t going to want to work together.”

“You gonna tell them to?”

Pushing himself to his feet, Gavin stepped over to the small control set-up. He tapped through the various screens until he had pulled up the profiles 5MG had on file for Michael Jones and Ray Narvaez Jr. “I dunno that they’d listen to me, b. I did betray them both.”

“Worth a shot. They both trust you.” Dan reached over, patting Gavin’s shoulder lightly.

“That seems to be the mistake they made.” Gavin mumbled, words barely audible. He closed the profiles, pulling up the main information feed from 5MG. “Hunters base 3 is blown. Everyone’s out?”

“Out and on their way to rendezvous. Michael’s picking up Ray at the hospital and they’re headed for the airport, Ryan’s securing a car right now. Jack and Geoff are going to the train station.” Dan frowned, eyes darting over the information on the screen. “Oh, oh shitfire and fuckall.” He muttered, tapping rapidly at the keyboard. Gavin’s eyes widened, scanning the monitors and trying to figure out what had sent Dan into a panic.

“B?”

“The hospital’s blown.” Dan groaned, leaning back, tapping his communicator. “Hospital is blown, get out of there.” He barked the order to both headsets, burying his face in his hands when he saw Gavin point towards one of the CCTV feeds.

“They’re already there.” They exchanged a glance, attention suddenly diverted as a second notification came up.

“The train station is blown too.” Dan groaned again, pointing towards a second CCTV feed.  “And right on schedule, there’s Geoff and Jack.”

Gavin pulled a chair over to the control set-up, grabbing a headset for himself and settling it on. “You handle Ramsey and Pattillo, b. I’ll cover Ray and Michael.” He instructed softly, pulling up the feeds he’d need and tapping his headset to life.

“Hi, Michael. Hi, Ray.”


	2. Promises

Michael approached the hospital on foot, eyes trying to be everywhere at once in lot Echo 16, looking for the person he was supposed to rendezvous with as well as any danger that might be had. So far he didn’t see anything, but that didn’t mean—

“Hospital is blown, get out of there.” A voice snapped in his ear. Without pause, Michael snatched his gun from the holster under his arm, ducking behind a car. From the corner of his eye he saw someone else moving as if in reaction, lifted his gun to prepare to shoot to kill.

He almost dropped the weapon at the second voice, the familiar cant of a British accent in his ear. “Hi, Michael. Hi, Ray.” Who the fuck was Ray?

“Gavin?” He whispered, daring a glance over the hood of the car he was currently hidden behind. He’d lost his target, dammit.

“You two are going to have to trust each other if you want to stay alive. Michael, Ray’s to your ten, blue Dodge. Can you get up there and cover him? Ray, just stay low. I don’t think they know that you’re there yet. They’re looking for Michael.”

He moved without thought, unaware of the second voice in his ear giving confirmation. This was apparently the person that he was meant to meet with, then. And since he had no interest in dying just yet, he’d listen to Gavin. Michael slowed his breathing, remembering the techniques the Brit had taught him, putting all of his focus outward. Footsteps to his left; he shuffled right, keeping low to the ground. A sudden change in the pace of those steps, speeding up ever so slightly. Without a thought Michael dropped to his belly in the parking lot, rolling under the car he’d been hiding next to. A moment later a pair of shoes sprinted by the car where he’d just been crouching.

He knew he’d be vulnerable while he wiggled out from under the car, there was no helping it. Michael carefully rolled over, looking for the best place to come into the open. There, on the driver’s side—a large van, low to the ground. It was perfect.

Wiggling around carefully, he rolled out from under the car towards the van, putting his knees under himself and pushing himself into a low crouch. He kept his hand on his gun, looking around quickly to make sure he wasn’t about to take a bullet. Nothing. Scooting around to the back of the van, Michael dared a look at the parking lot.

Sixteen people in the lot and he spotted two Bluetooth earpieces immediately, three more subtler headsets after a moment. He also assessed a blonde woman in a business suit and sensible flats, deciding that she could be a possible threat. No one was obviously carrying a gun that he could see from this distance, but a young man was being pushed in a wheelchair by a smiling nurse and shifting his weight in a way that made Michael suspicious. So that was five possibilities. He shifted his attention slightly to the left, scanning for a blue Dodge and spotting the man with dark hair and tanned skin crouched by it. He looked familiar, but there wasn’t exactly time to dwell on it.

Taking a deep breath and hoping his timing was good, Michael crouched down and ran from behind the van to behind the next car. Small, sporty, shit for cover. He dropped to the pavement without a thought, belly-crawling under the SUV behind the white car, putting himself in the same row as the blue Dodge. The rough pavement scraped through the fabric of his jeans as he dragged his knees along the ground, soon ripping through the skin of his legs too. Well, fuck.

He came up behind another SUV, still three or four spots away from his rendezvous target—and then they’d have to find a car to get out of here. Daring another glance over the crowd in the parking lot, Michael held his breath. Wheelchair was being helped into a van by the nurse. The blonde woman was nearing the hospital entrance. Two of the others with earpieces milled about, but where was the third one.

“Freeze!” A voice called and Michael raised his gun, ready to shoot and run, surprised to see that no one was paying attention to him. He darted a look to the side, seeing the dark-haired guy slowly getting to his feet next to the blue Dodge, raising his hands. One of his hands was bandaged up and reality snapped into Michael as he realized just who he was supposed to be meeting with.

“Michael.” Gavin’s voice in his ear, getting his attention. “You have to help him, please.”

“Why the fuck should I help someone from 6, Gavin? And why the fuck should I listen to you?” He hissed back, keeping his gun trained on the guy that was slowly drawing Ray out from between the cars.  

“Michael, please. You said you trusted me… and I’ve done wrong by you, wrong by all of you. I have to make it right, okay?” The pleading in Gavin’s voice was filed in his brain under ‘unimportant.’ Instead Michael focused solely on the words.

“So this is some sort of attempt to redeem yourself for being a lying, traitorous piece of shit? Is that what you’re telling me? Fuckit, let them kill him. I don’t give two shits about the little shitstain.”

“You shut your goddamn mouth, Michael Jones!” The raised volume made him jump, tightening his grip on his handgun and looking around. “You just shut up and listen to me for once. I did wrong and I know I did wrong, but I’m going to make it right. I’m not going to let _any_ of you die today!”

“Then get out here and do something about it yourself. If you expect me to save some little asshole from 6—“

His words were cut off by a shout, forcing Michael’s attention back to the parking lot. The guy from 6 was on his knees in the middle of the lane, hands raised to either side of him. Behind him a man stood with a gun pointed at his head and there were others moving, rushing the onlookers away. For just a moment Michael made eye contact with the kneeling man, saw not fear in his eyes like he saw in the interrogation room, but only acceptance. A quiet voice spoke in his ear.

“Well, shit.”

And then Michael’s finger closed over the trigger of his gun, squeezing twice and putting two bullets into the man holding the gun to the guy—Ray’s—head, one in the throat and one in his forehead. The kneeling man scrambled under a car, disappearing for a moment as confused screaming filled the parking lot. He popped up at the back, still a few parking spaces away from Michael, ducked low and running across the aisle. Without a thought Michael followed him, the two ducking to the front of a late-model pick-up truck.

“Can you wire it?” Michael asked, a bit breathlessly, watching over his shoulder as the men that had been clearing people away drew guns and ran to where their partner had fallen.

“What, you think because I’m Puerto Rican, I steal cars?” The snarky reply made him roll his eyes, glancing over his shoulder to see the other man duck around the corner of the truck. A moment later the door opened, the truck roaring to life less than a minute afterwards.

Michael looked around, sighting his target and squeezing the trigger twice more, flattening the tires of a minivan a few rows up. He moved backwards, into the passenger seat of the truck, surprised when the other guy just looked at him.

“I can start it. I can’t drive it.”

“Oh, for fuck’s…” Jamming his gun into his belt even though he knew it was a good way to shoot himself, Michael dropped to the floor. “Slide your scrawny ass across the seat and keep low, asshole.” Once the guy was across the seat, Michael pushed himself up into the driver’s seat, shifting the truck into gear and pulling out of the spot. He nearly dumped it taking the corner too fast and too hard, gas pedal depressed almost all the way as he made for the parking lot’s exit.

If anyone shot at them, he wasn’t aware of it. Instead he focused on getting out of the lot alive.

“I knew you two would make a good team.” A smug voice commented in his ear, making Michael grit his teeth down.

“Shut the fuck up, Gavin.”

He was surprised to realize that the comment had come in stereo, and exchanged a glance with the guy in the passenger seat as he blew past the parking toll station. The pair exchanged a tentative smile for half a second before Michael’s attention was back on the road.

“Alright, we’re out of the lot. Where to, Gavin?”

“Well, uh, that’s a little… complicated.” The hesitant answer in his ear made Michael groan.

“Don’t fucking say that, you prick. I’ve had enough shit for one day.”

“Sorry, Michael. Ray, you still have that phone on you from the coffee shop? Set the GPS for point 318. They’ll be tracking you, so make it difficult for them, lads.”

“Christ, Gavin, that’s on the other side of the city.” Ray mumbled next to him, leaning forward and carefully setting the phone on the truck’s dashboard. “I really fucking hate you right now.”

“I’m sorry.” The sincerity in Gavin’s voice made Michael’s hands tighten on the steering wheel. He wasn’t going to start falling for this bullshit. “I’m going to get you guys out of there, though. All of you. I promise.”

“You better fucking mean that.”

–

Dan spared a glance over to Gavin as he directed the two Hunters through the train station, watching the way the other man drew his knees to his chest and chewed on his lip. Just a few moments ago Gavin had been completely in his element, enthusiastically giving instructions and tracking progress on the monitor before him. Now he was withdrawing, curling into himself and going quiet again.

The look brought back too many memories.

He reached over, setting a hand lightly on the other man’s shoulder, offering a squeeze. He didn’t have time to give him anything else, unfortunately, too intently focused on getting the two older men out of there and back with their families.

While Dan directed Pattillo and Ramsey through the train station, he reflected on what Gavin had said a few short hours ago, when he’d come in from being busted. They weren’t targets anymore, they were people now. People that he cared about. And if they were the people that Gavin cared about, then Dan was going to do everything in his power to protect them. He wasn’t going to let Gavin down again.

Finding out what the planned endgame for 6 and the Hunters was shouldn’t have been a surprise to him. This wasn’t his first operation, after all, he knew how they normally ended. But it had been different this time. Knowing that Gavin had painted a target on his own back, that Dan himself had a target planted on his back… it had made him rethink following orders from 5MG. He’d begun to ask some very quiet questions, to test loyalties. And he’d been happy with the results.

Burnie was probably the best find, the man having plenty of field experience and influence. Dan thought that he’d be completely against betraying 5MG, but he’d been wrong. Burnie seemed almost more eager for an out than Dan was, agreeing to help if the Brit could get him and his family somewhere safe. His family had been easy, and Burnie himself would be joining them soon enough, just as soon as the three women in his care were safe out of harm’s way.

He’d chosen his allies in this mission with extreme caution, and even then he’d almost messed up. Heyman had had to put down one of the pick-ups when the man overheard something he shouldn’t have and had been about to report it back to 5MG headquarters. It’d been a tense few hours, waiting for his careful planning to fall through his fingers, before the confirmation from Heyman had come that they were still okay. Even now, Dan felt his shoulders relax to think about it.

Dan looked over the monitor in front of him, sighing slightly. He was glad he’d already had all of this set up for Gavin’s extraction, a planned disappearance for the two of them. When his best friend had brought up extracting the other five individuals and their families—a total of eight people to keep away from 5MG—Dan hadn’t hesitated. He’d do anything for Gavin, he had to. He had put him into this mess in the first place, he owed it to him to save whoever he could.

Ramsey and Pattillo were in the clear and Dan leaned back with a sigh, turning his headset over to the channel he’d set up for Ryan. “Ryan, check-in.” He called out, seeing the way Gavin jumped next to him.

“I’m on interstate 35, headed north. Going to get off on the 183 and go west. Small towns and changing car as often as I can.”

“You being followed?” He asked quietly, pulling up the map and nodded. It seemed that Ryan had a solid plan, then.

“Not as far as I can tell. I’ve done some off and on in Austin to make sure but so far there’s nothing. Don’t worry, I can handle myself. How’s Ray?” He could hear the concern in the other man’s voice, even if he tried to pass it off as nonchalance.

“On his way to safety. Gavin’s taking care of him, don’t worry. Call in if you need anything.” He hesitated, looking over to Gavin and touching his arm lightly. “Anything to say to Ryan?”

Gavin nodded, switching his headset over and sighing. “Ryan, I’m so, so sorry—“

“Worry about it later, Gav. If you drop the ball and Ray gets hurt, there won’t be anything left of you to bury.” The man’s voice was cold, but before Gavin or Dan could say anything he continued, words softer. “Why’d you do it?”

“I’ve always worked for 5MG, ever since I was eighteen. Dan signed up and they had an opening and he told me about it, so I joined in. It’s all been a lie, Ryan.”

“Even the times in the apartment?”

Dan saw the way Gavin inhaled, the way his arms wrapped around his knees. He saw the way his eyes flicked over the monitor before he spoke. “All of it, Ryan. Everything had been planned and calculated.” And Dan didn’t need to ask, he slid his chair over and wrapped his arms around Gavin’s shoulders as soon as the man in the car clicked off the headset.

“It wasn’t a lie…” Gavin mumbled, turning and pressing his face into the side of Dan’s neck, his hands clenching tightly at his t-shirt. “It wasn’t but it’s so much easier if he thinks it was…”

“Yeah.” Dan agreed quietly, rubbing his back. “Everything’s going to work out, though, b. You’ll see it.”

“Promise?” Gavin looked up at him, looking like a little kid again.

“Yeah, I promise.” Eye contact between the pair, gazes lingering on each other for a moment before they refocused on their tasks.

_I can’t promise anything anymore, Gav._

_Neither can I, b._


	3. Mileage

Jack and Geoff were on the train. Ryan was on the freeway. Ray and Michael were also on the freeway. There was no way to keep track of any of them, so Gavin leaned back in his chair, turning his attention towards Dan.

The other man looked exhausted, dark circles under his eyes, his skin pale in the glow of the monitor. A short pang of guilt ripped through the Brit’s chest, his hand settling on his friend’s shoulder. “Hey, b, get some rest. I’ll take things from here.” He offered, jerking his head towards the bed. “It’ll be a few hours until we move into stage two. Trust me, I’ll let you know the second someone calls in, if it happens.”

Dan turned towards him, offering a wry smile. “You know that every time you say ‘trust me’ now, someone’s going to want to punch you in the face, right?” He stood, cracking his spine and stepping across the room to the small bed, falling into it without much ceremony. Before Gavin could even come up with a properly sarcastic response, the dark-haired man was snoring lightly, his face buried into one of the pillows. The sandy-haired man spun in his chair a couple of times, before turning back to the computer set-up and flipping through the profiles 5MG had collected on all of them. They’d have to wipe the data before they left here, erase it from the 5MG systems completely. Given how much redundancy and back-up 5MG had, that was going to be a royal pain in the ass.

Gavin got to work.

–

Setting the cars cruise control at just over 70, Ryan let his attention drift from the road laid out before him, unsurprised when it immediately turned towards Ray. He had an almost paternal feeling of protectiveness over the younger man, and it had been nearly impossible to just let him walk away towards the hospital and some unknown ‘pick-up’ waiting for him. The only thing that had really stopped him from fighting it was Ray’s own willingness to believe Gavin. It was no great secret that the two younger members of 6 had a bond that he wasn’t quite a part of, something that brought them together and, try as the three of them might to be a cohesive whole, kept Ryan out. Maybe it was the age difference, eight years could be a lot. Maybe it was that when Ray hadn’t known who else to turn to for help, Gavin had been there for him to trust. He didn’t know, and before he hadn’t much cared. He loved them both and they loved him in return, emotionally as well as physically. It was plenty.

With Gavin’s betrayal, however, Ray had been utterly crushed. He wasn’t the sunny, quick-to-joke young man anymore and Ryan feared he never would be again. Betrayal by someone he loved, coming so very close on the heels of his terrifying experience as a captive… It was no wonder he was having a hard time focusing. And instead of giving him time to do it, Ryan had had to be the asshole that scared him into paying attention, scared him into keeping himself alive.

“Gonna have to make this up to him…” He muttered, changing lanes and getting ready to take the next exit ramp. He needed to gas up as well as keep any potential followers chasing their tails. It wouldn’t do to get busted before he saw Ray again.

One hand moved to the communicator still hanging from his ear, hovering over it as he slowed for the approaching off-ramp. Bravo had said that he’d get an address for meet-up once he was safely away from the action and Ryan had accepted it, hadn’t wanted to be a distraction when he could take care of himself. He’d wanted the other man to focus on Ray as much as possible, to keep him safe while Ryan couldn’t.

He hadn’t expected the last call-in to involve a conversation with Gavin. The fact that the traitorous Brit was there irked him, made him want to tear a knife through flesh. It didn’t matter that he was trying to help, that he was sorry. He’d put them in danger in the first place, had plans to get them both killed. If Gavin was absolutely lucky (which the son of a bitch probably was), he’d never see Ryan again. And if he was even a little bit unlucky, Ryan would be the last person he saw, his knife slicing through skin the last thing Gavin felt.

He could accept the betrayal of himself, that everything between them had been a carefully calculated lie. But he would make Gavin pay for the hurt in Ray’s eyes when the Puerto Rican had realized his betrayal.

No one made Ray hurt like that.

No one.

–

Leaned back in his chair, Gavin was nearly asleep himself when the communicator in his ear beeped once, indicating an incoming call. He flicked a glance over his shoulder to Dan, deciding to only wake the other man if it was an emergency. The communicator beeped again and Gavin turned it on, keeping his voice low.

“Bravo here.”

“The fuck it is, I know that’s you, Gavin. I’d recognize your mincy little Brit voice anywhere.”

Gavin sighed, pulling up the relevant information. “Hi, Geoff.”

“I’m gonna kick you in the dick if my family isn’t okay.” The mercenary shot back, making the younger man laugh slightly.

“They’re fine, Burnie just checked in and they’re resting at a safehouse. Uh, northern Arizona. They’ll be meeting up with you guys tomorrow evening.” He nodded as he read the information of the screen, before turning his attention back to the train schedule. “Everything alright on your end?”

“Fine. Jack and I weren’t followed onto the train as far as we can tell and everything’s running on schedule. I mostly called in to ask what the next phase of the plan was…” Hesitation from the tattooed man made Gavin sigh.

“I know that you don’t trust me, but you trust Bravo. He got you both through the train station without detection and he hand-picked Burnie to keep your family safe. Burnie’s an expert at what he does, just like the rest of us. As far as the next stage, just enjoy the ride. When you reach your destination we’ll update you.”

“And just where the fuck _is_ our destination, anyways? Didn’t have time to check before we left and it’d be weird to ask someone now that we’re on board.” Gavin could practically see Geoff rubbing his temples and he smiled.

“For now just know that staying on that train to the last stop will keep you safe, okay? And hey, there’s money in the bag Burnie gave you, buy yourself a drink with it or something.”

“Alright, alright, Mr. Mysterious 5MG Spy.” A laugh between the two, before Geoff grew serious. “How’s Michael?”

“Met some trouble getting out like you did, little bit of a firefight. He checked in about an hour ago and said they were fine. They’re in a car right now.” He hesitated, biting his lip for a moment, before delving forward. “I had to send him off separately because I needed someone to protect Ray without being focused only on protecting Ray, so Ryan couldn’t do it. I know that it seemed like a bad idea, but—“

Geoff cut him off, sounding confused. “Who the fuck is Ray?”

“Oh, uh…” Gavin rubbed the back of his neck, laughing nervously. “The hacker from 6. That guy you guys pulled in for interrogation the day I got found out?”

An exasperated sigh from the tattooed man on the train. “The guy that had his hand broken by Michael? You put those two together? You’re a fuckin’ moron.”

“It worked out in the end!” Gavin whined slightly, smiling. At least things with Geoff hadn’t changed too much.

Quiet between them and Gavin was about to disconnect the communication when Geoff spoke up again. “So how many more people are going to die while you and me keep standing here, kid?”

Looking over his shoulder again, Gavin swallowed. “I don’t know… but if I have it my way, it won’t be just you and me standing here alive. It’ll be all of us.”

Another silence stretched out between them before Geoff abruptly disconnected.

Ten people was a lot to ask for, but Gavin thought that maybe he could pull it off.

–

“Major highways and major cities?” Michael frowned, tapping at the screen of the phone as it displayed the route he was supposed to take. Currently the truck was idling in a parking lot, the pungent odor of fast food French fries in the cab making him wrinkle his nose. But he’d needed something to eat and a moment to collect his thoughts.

“I dunno, but… well, I mean, gotta follow the instructions, right?” Ray questioned next to him, snatching the phone up before the curly-haired man could break the screen from his tapping. “I already tried messing with this thing, it’s not going to change the display. Someone must have remote control of it. Breaking it isn’t going to help, either.”

“Shut the fuck up.” He saw the way the Puerto Rican flinched at his tone, but fuck it. What did it matter? He was with 6 and 6 were the people who had been making his life miserable and giving him head injuries for months now. Just because Gavin said he was supposed to trust this guy, he suddenly was?

Fucking bullshit.

Michael slammed the truck into gear, leaving the parking lot with a squeal of tires and a bounce as they hit the curb. From the corner of his eye he saw the man next to him wince, leaning forward and carefully settling the phone on the dashboard again. The silence between them was tense, not even the radio on to distract them as they drove through the city, headed south.

On the highway, headed out of the city, he finally calmed down a little, the anger ebbing away. It wasn’t even real anger, he was just frustrated. He was reacting when all he wanted to do was act. Running away when he wanted to face this problem head-on and make it beg for mercy. Listening to Gavin when the Brit had betrayed him.

“Fuck…” Michael muttered, switching lanes with barely a glance, depressing the gas pedal a bit more. He darted a glance to the dark-haired man in the passenger seat, sighing. “You don’t need to keep watching me like that. I’m not gonna shoot you.”

“I wasn’t—“

“You were. You have been since the hospital.”

“Well, you broke my hand, like, six hours ago.” The other man rubbed his hand lightly, still watching Michael from the corner of his eye.

“You deserved it, you little hacking fuck.”

Another tense silence stretched between them as miles melted away on the road before them. The sun was sinking into the western horizon to their right, giving everything a bloodstained look. Minute beeping in both of their ears made the two jump, Michael tapping his headset to receive the incoming transmission.

“Status report?” Gavin’s voice asked, coolly professional.

“Following directions from the phone. Where are we going, Gav?” Ray returned, pressing his hand to his earpiece gingerly. He had barely managed to secure it into his right ear left-handed, and the audio quality was suffering for it.

“You’ll find out later on. Michael, next time you stop for gas you’ll have to switch cars. Make sure to wipe this one down.”

“Got it.” His hands tightened on the steering wheel, eyes forward. The truck wouldn’t need gas for a while, it would be full dark by the time he had to stop. That’d make things easier.

“Did you guys need anything?” Gavin questioned softly, the veneer of professionalism melting away. “I mean, I can’t give you a lot of answers now, but…”

“Why’d you put us together?” Michael demanded, ignoring the flinch from the other man in the truck. That flinch was really annoying.

A sigh sounded in his ear in return and he could almost _see_ Gavin, sat at a desk somewhere, his arms stretched out before him and his forehead pressed to the flat surface in annoyance. “I needed someone who would keep Ray safe. Someone who would protect him, but be able to focus on other things too. No offense, Ray, but you’re not in top condition right now. Michael was the best choice for that.” Radio silence for a few moments, before Gavin’s voice came again, a small, pleading whisper.

“Just try to get along, okay? You two have a long trip ahead.”

Michael frowned, glancing towards the passenger seat. After a moment the communication broke and he reached up to turn his mic off without a thought. His eyes slid over to the smaller man in the seat next to him, a sigh leaving him. “Here.” Reaching over, he slipped an arm around the other man’s shoulder, adjusting his earpiece for him and flicking the mic off. “At least try to look a little professional, huh? You’re the spy here but that earpiece was completely not subtle.”

He moved his hand back to the steering wheel and his eyes back to the road, unaware of the hesitant but grateful smile of the man next to him.

–

“System wiped.” Gavin confirmed quietly, fingers stroking along a last few keys, erasing any digital trace of their presence. He’d been unable to completely remove the profiles 5MG had for himself, Dan, the Hunters, and 6—that would have triggered a warning and he’d have been shut out almost immediately. But he had carefully constructed a field of false information, most of it conflicting. Michael was reported dead both in the firefight at the hospital and a car crash three weeks ago. Ray was back in prison, being deported to Columbia for crimes there that Gavin had fabricated. Geoff was in transit to a secure 5MG location via police escort and in about an hour that would update to indicate that there had been a car crash and he was dead. Jack had been killed by Ryan during a mission. Ryan had simply vanished without a trace, but he’d planted a few false leads in central and eastern Asia. He and Dan were scheduled to die in the explosion of their current saferoom.

“Charges set.” Dan confirmed, looking up from the corner of the room. “Our transport is waiting to bring us to the next phase. You remember Heyman?”

“How could I forget?” Gavin stood up from the computer, making sure his headset was secure. “Dunkleman used to always greet him with ‘Hey, man, what’s going on?’ or something equally bad, right? How is she, by the way?”

“Assignment in Edmonton. I think she’d make a good ally if we can get in touch with her.” Dan smiled back, standing and heading for the door. “Come on, we’ve got fifteen minutes before this place blows.”

“Think they’ll get here in time for the fireworks?”

“If they’re lucky, they won’t. It’s gonna be big.” Dan grinned widely, gesturing around the room. He’d taken an interest in explosives ever since he was a kid, always setting off bangers in his back garden. 5MG had been more than happy to fuel his interest with bigger and more powerful explosives, something the organization would surely grow to regret.

Shouldering his backpack of the most essential gear, Gavin headed out the door. Dan was a few steps behind him, the pair making their way from the small house down the evening streets. A few blocks away was a car that Gavin recognized as the one he’d been picked up by when his cover was blown.

“You still haven’t told me how we’re getting out, b.”

“Heyman is driving us to an airfield where there’s a ‘copter prepped. He’ll be flying us in to the meet point. We should arrive a bit before everyone else.” Dan nodded, opening the trunk of the vehicle and loading in his bags. “Come on, we’re on a clock here.”

“Wait, Heyman’s driving?” Gavin questioned, dropping his own backpack into the trunk and climbing into the back seat. “ _And_ flying? Isn’t that a little…” He trailed off, spotting the man behind the wheel.

“If you have a problem with my driving and piloting skills…” Heyman began, putting the car into gear and screeching away from the curb as soon as Dan shut his door, “you can get out and walk. Just know that I’m not stopping.”

“I-I’m fine.” Gavin squeaked, smiling just slightly.

“That’s what I thought.”

Dan pulled a PDA from his pocket, tapping the screen thoughtfully and nodding. “According to the tracers, everyone’s right on schedule. We should beat Burnie there by no more than an hour, Geoff and Jack by no more than two. Michael, Ray, and Ryan will be later along.”

“Sounds good.” Gavin pulled his own PDA out, going over the routes that the three traveling by car had been sent on. “I made sure to remind Michael and Ray to switch vehicles every time they get gas. Ryan already knows to do that.”

“Wouldn’t hurt to pop in and remind him, though.” Heyman commented, merging onto the highway without bothering to signal or, as far as Gavin could tell, look around. “Better to have your bases covered.”

“I’ll call in to him when we get to the airfield, Joel. Is our ride there prepped?” Dan questioned, putting the PDA back into his pocket and watching out the window.

“Prepped and waiting. We should be there in about thirty and we’re cleared for takeoff as soon as we load up.”

“Get us there in twenty-five, then. Things have been going a little too smoothly for my liking.” The engine roared briefly with acceleration before Joel smoothed it out, inching the speedometer to the right of eighty miles per hour.

–

Across a continent and an ocean, a screen at 5MG headquarters flared red. The technician behind it frowned, brushing dark red hair behind her ear and quietly clearing the alert.

“What was that?” The man seated next to her asked, leaning over slightly. She glanced towards him, offering a smile and a shrug.

“Out-dated alert of possible ally death.” Her fingers moved smoothly over the keyboard, pulling up the profiles for Daniel Gruchy and Gavin Free. “Considering they’re both filthy traitors, it doesn’t seem necessary to file it under ally death.”

“Did you flag it as false information?” The man asked, his attention returning to his own computer screen.

She nodded, closing the profiles and continuing her monitoring. “Yeah, it’s been sent to clean-up. Sorola and Hullum are in the area, they’ll check it out. Now mind your own, Caleb, you’re not my boss.” She stuck her tongue out, smiling teasingly.

“Psh, gimme another three months and I will be. Then you’ll be calling me Mr. Denecour and I’ll be able to wear a hat to work if I want to, Tuggey.” They laughed slightly, attention returning to the monitors before them.

Routine. No reason to inform anyone else about what had come up. Sorola and Hullum would report in two corpses then destroy the evidence and 5MG would be satisfied.

Gruchy wasn’t the only one that had been doing some digging and asking some quiet questions.

–

“Thanks for your cooperation.” The blonde woman smiled widely, handing a small fortune to the manager of the coffee shop as well as her visor and apron. “Just remember, nothing out of the ordinary happened today.” She picked up the large purse from the floor, setting it onto the counter and rifling through it. After a moment, she pulled out a headset, affixing it to her ear before lifting the bag and leaving the shop.

“Luna, this is Eberle. Information delivered and ready for pick-up. What’s your status?”

“Shawcross and I are a bit tied up at the moment.” The nervous, slightly high-pitched voice came through the line and she sighed.

“Are you being tailed?”

“No…” A small giggle followed by an indignant squawk. The blonde woman sighed again, rubbing her temples.

“Now’s not the time to put his gun on the high shelf, Luna. Give it back to him and pick me up. We still have work to do before we can rendezvous with Burns.”

She could hear the sigh of disappointment over the earpiece, then the cry of joy as Shawcross’ gun was returned to him. It was like working with children, really. “Alright, we’ll be there in five.” Luna offered. “And Kara, watch your back. Everyone else is currently engaged and we don’t have a complete list of allies.”

“I know, I know. Don’t worry, I’m more than ready for a fight, Miles. Just make sure you and Kerry haul ass, okay?” She glanced around, rubbing her arms and strolling down the street. “You think Gruchy knew it was going to end up this big?”

“Not a chance.” Shawcross’ voice cut into the conversation, sounding smug. “He thinks he’s the only one that’s ever asked a question about what 5MG is really up to. We’ve got plenty of people ready to take them down from the inside.”

“Just waiting for the right opportunity.” Miles agreed.

Kara nodded, approaching a bus stop and taking a seat on the bench there.  “I’m at the North Lamar and West Koenig Metro Bus stop, guys. End comm.” Hearing the confirmation, she tapped the communicator off.

She knew she could trust Gruchy—and Free by extension, even though she’d never met the fellow field agent in person and had heard he was a bit of a psychotic besides—plus Luna and Shawcross were safe. How many others, though? Was Dunkleman on their team? Did she even know what was going on? Who back in England was working with them? What other contacts around the world did they have? And what about the guys she’d given the information drop too, playing the part of a nervous barista who had been given instructions and monetary incentive not to get too curious? They were tied in to the project Free and Gruchy had been working on, did that make them trustworthy?

It was too much to wonder about, especially when she had such a busy night ahead of her.


	4. Converge

_Right on schedule…_ Dan thought, checking his watch and PDA as the helicopter set down in the open field of the small New Mexico town. It was a short drive to the base of operations he’d set up there—really no more than a farm house down an unnamed dirt road, but beggars couldn’t be choosers and it was fairly isolated even for the standards of this community. Burnie had checked in about half an hour previous, stated that he and the three women in his care would be arriving at the designated time. Geoff and Jack’s train had gotten into Santa Fe and Gavin had passed instructions onto them, a combination for a locker in the train station that held a phone with the address of the safe house. They’d had to steal a car, of course, but would be there within two hours or so if everything went according to plan.

Ryan had checked in as they’d touched down, given his current location and stated that traffic was light in the late evening, more people going south than north by far. He expected to be a bit earlier than planned. Michael and Ray had yet to check in since the last time they’d switched cars, but they were due any minute.

“Things are under control…” Dan muttered, shouldering his backpack and falling into step beside Gavin, the pair following Joel towards the waiting SUV.

“Things have been under control, b.” Gavin smiled, cheerful despite the recent stress and long trip in the less-than-comfortable seats of the helicopter. It had been a hell of a flight, five hours across a barren desert as the sun sank into the western sky. And it was the second such trip Gavin had made that day, a break of less than four hours between the two. “So, where are we, anyways?” He questioned, loading his backpack into the trunk of the SUV.

“Waterflow, New Mexico. There’s a safehouse a few miles away that everyone’s going to converge on.” Dan offered a small smile in return, climbing into the front seat of the vehicle and leaning his head back. “We’ll be getting some real sleep while everyone else arrives.”

“Sleep sounds like a solid plan.” Heyman muttered behind the wheel, fighting down a yawn and rolling his window down. Cool night air rushed through the car as he drove, the roads midnight silent around them. They rolled through the center of the small town like a ghost, barely tapping the brake pedal at the blinking traffic light. Soon enough they were off paved roads, following a rutted dirt track surrounded on either side by scrub brush. Sand kicked up behind the SUV in the moonlight, hanging in the still air long after the car’s taillights had faded away.

Heyman parked the SUV around the back of the house, the three men stumbling inside with their equipment. Dan pointed a bedroom to the driver, saying he could sleep there for a while. He pointed Gavin towards a second one, heading back down the hallway towards the stairs and the lower floor of the house.

“Dan.” Gavin’s voice in the dark hallway made him pause, looking over his shoulder. He could only see his friend in silhouette, outlined by silvery moonlight spilling in from the window. “Aren’t you going to sleep?”

“Soon as Burns gets in with the civilians.” Dan agreed, waving him off. “Get some rest, b. This isn’t over.”

“You better be coming in with me soon.” Even though he wanted to stay awake and wait for Burnie and the women he had been assigned to protect, Gavin headed into the bedroom. He fell face-first onto the bed, soon soundly asleep.

Dan crawled into bed with him a little more than an hour later, one arm falling comfortably around the sleeping man, his mind already most of the way into oblivion.

–

Geoff shifted the car into park, turning off the ignition and listening to the engine tick as it cooled down. He glanced towards Jack, frowning slightly. “Think this is the place?”

“There’s nothing else out here.” Jack shrugged, unbuckling his seatbelt and carefully getting out of the car. “If it was a trap, we’d be dead already…” He whispered, attention rapt on the large farmhouse they were parked in front of. There were no other vehicles there, but a dim light glowed from one of the windows.

“Now or never, man.” Geoff scrubbed his hands against his stumbled cheeks, reaching up and tugging at the bandages on his arm. “Standard two-person entry, keep it quiet.” He ordered after a moment, both men drawing their handguns and approaching the front door.

They paused on either side of the front door, breath moving shallowly in and out of their lungs, making short eye contact before Geoff nodded. Jack pushed the door open, the tattooed man leading the way in with his pistol.

“Put that gun down before you hurt someone.” Griffon spoke in a whisper from the couch, a smile on her lips. Before Geoff could even register that his wife was in the room with him, safe and sound and reprimanding him for doing his job, she was in front of him, thin, tattooed arms wrapped around his neck, lips moving against his. “Glad you’re safe…” She whispered, holding him extra tightly. Her gaze shifted towards Jack as he holstered his weapon, nodding slightly. “Caiti’s in the bedroom at the back of the house, down the hall next to the stairs and to the left.” She offered, the bearded man nodding shortly and taking off in that direction. It was where the light had been, if he had his layout right.

Griffon’s hands slipped down to hold Geoff’s, squeezing lightly. “How’s the little one?” He questioned, squeezing her hands back and kissing her again.

“Sound asleep in the room across from Caiti. She’s not sure what’s going on, but there hasn’t been any trouble for us.” She led him slowly down the hall after Jack as the door closed, sighing. “You promised me that this wouldn’t come home with you, Geoffrey.”

“I thought that it wouldn’t.” He mumbled, stopping outside the door and pulling her closer, kissing her once again. “I thought that you two were safe. I’m so sorry.”

Griffon’s fingers brushed against his, her expression unreadable in the dark. After a moment she sighed, pressing her forehead to his shoulder. “Let’s get some sleep. That Burns guy says that we have a few hours to sleep here. He said that we’d be safe to rest. I was so fucking worried about you.” She pressed him to the door, kissing him with more passion, more warmth than before. His hands settled on her hips, a small groan leaving him.

“As much as I want to… I’m exhausted. Let’s get some sleep, we’ll pick this up when we’re safe again.” He offered, reaching back to open the door, stepping inside. He disengaged from his wife, stepping over to the small bed and leaning down, kissing his daughter’s forehead while she slept. She barely stirred and he smiled, moving to the bed on the other side of the room.

He climbed under the blankets with his wife, arms secured around her, lips pressed to her shoulder. Just as he was about to fall asleep, she spoke up in a whisper.

“Geoff?”

“Mmm?”

“Are we ever going to be safe again?” Her hand settled over his at her hip, fingers twining together and squeezing. Geoff frowned, kissing along her shoulder slowly.

“If I have it my way, we will be. I promise.”

–

 “Wake up.” He frowned at the way the other man jerked in the seat, frowned at the flinch and the wince and the tentative rub of his bandaged hand. They were in a truck stop parking lot, bathed in a sodium orange glow from the street lamps, headlights occasionally washing white through the car they’d taken at the last gas station.

“What’s goin’ on…?” Ray mumbled, rubbing one of his eyes and squinting to see the clock on the dash board. Useless, of course, because the car was turned off.

“It’s three in the morning, that’s what. I just tried calling in to Gavin and that Bravo guy on my headset, can’t get in touch with either of them. Geoff and Jack aren’t answering either.” Michael crossed his arms, glaring in front of him at the parking lot. “Call that guy that shot Geoff this morning.”

Frowning slightly, sleepy brain still trying to process the information, Ray tapped his earpiece to life. “Ryan?” He called out, sighing in relief when he got an answer.

“What’s going on, Ray? How are you?”

“I, uh… Fine.” He swallowed, shifting in his seat. “We’re en route to a rendezvous that Gavin set up, travelling by car. Have you been in contact with anyone?”

“Not since about one in the morning.” Ray glanced towards Michael, holding up a single finger and hoping it would be enough to indicate what Ryan was saying. “Bravo said to keep on the route the phone was providing and that he was getting some rest. If there’s an emergency, we’re on our own. Who are you with?”

“Oh, alright. That… alright.” Shifting again in his seat, the Puerto Rican tilted his head back. “I… It’s kind of complicated. I’ll see you soon, though, okay?” He paused, glancing over to the other man in the car, lowering his voice slightly. “Love you, Ryan.”

“Love you too, Ray. Stay safe.”

The connection broke and silence held in the car for a moment, before the curly-haired man snorted. “Gay.”

He winced, clenching his good fist and trying not to let the comment bother him. “Shut up. Apparently Gavin and Bravo decided that they were going to take a nap while we drove. If we run into trouble we’re on our own. Fuck, I shoulda asked Ryan what route he was on…” He closed his eyes again, tilting his head back. “Are we moving out, or do we need another car?”

The engine started without a word from Michael, the car rolling from the parking space and soon merging back onto the highway. Though his brown eyes stayed focused on the road, the driver began to speak, somewhat quietly. “So you and him, like… dating? Or what?”

Sitting up a little more, Ray turned his attention towards the night landscape outside. “I guess? We’re just… really close. We’d do anything for each other.” He rubbed his hand on his thigh, trying not to feel self-conscious. “What about you and Gavin? I mean shit, you found out today he was a traitor, but you still… y’know, shot a guy in the head for me because he asked you to. I, uh, thanks for that, by the way. Thought I was gonna be dead… or worse.”

“Yeah, getting kidnapped and tortured twice in one day is pretty shitty.” Michael smiled a bit, before shaking his head. “Gavin and I… I dunno. I trust him. He’s seen me at my lowest and he hasn’t used it against me, so.” He shrugged, speeding up slightly to pass a tractor trailer. “We’re not dating, though. Couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to date him.” He snickered, shaking his head.

“I…” Ray frowned, about to defend what he’d had with Gavin. He snapped his jaw shut, however, thinking about it for a moment longer before snickering. “Yeah. I couldn’t really imagine it either.” Which was true. Gavin, at least the Gavin that he knew, was a handful and a half and having Ryan around to help contain him had been perfect. The three of them had meshed so well together. It was just too bad it had all been a lie.

Michael hummed, considering for a moment. “You do anything besides be a hacking little shit in your free time?”

“I play video games. Call of Duty, stuff like that. Recently I’ve been working on Splinter Cell.” Ray rolled his eyes at the other man’s laughter. “Yeah, yeah, shut the fuck up. Games are fun. Getting shot in a video game doesn’t actually hurt, you know?”

“Shit, man, I know. Though if you’re Gavin, there’s still physical repercussions to shitty gameplay. I don’t know how many times I’ve smacked him for teamkilling me.” Michael snickered, shaking his head. “You play Halo?”

“Perfected all of them and I’m normally pretty much undefeated in multiplayer. Hell yeah I play Halo.”

They settled into the conversation, comparing preferred loadouts and experiences with the game. Ray found himself strangely comfortable, as if he were with a friend instead of a guy who had broken his hand some twenty hours previous. Extreme situations and all, though.

–

Sunrise over desert scrubland. Ryan sighed, stretching out his left leg as much as the car would allow, wishing he could do the same for his right. Ever since Ray had gotten in touch with him at around three he’d been anxious to reach his destination. Every time the phone had updated directions he’d hoped it was the end, but it wasn’t there.

Whoever Ray was with had kept him safe, which was good. But he didn’t know the person and that made him nervous. Everything about the younger man said that something was wrong; his tone of voice, the hesitant way he spoke, everything. Ryan wanted nothing more than to be there with him, to pull him into his arms and assure him that everything was fine (while assuring himself that Ray was okay and would continue to be okay). He knew that the Puerto Rican could take care of himself, but that didn’t make him comfortable with not being there to help him.

The phone made a soft noise as the destination updated and Ryan glanced over to it, sighing. Another twenty miles added to the journey. He grabbed the device off the dashboard, zooming in on the new destination with one eye on the road before him. The middle of a small town, from the look of it. No doubt it’d update from there and give him somewhere else to go. He set the phone back down, tapping the button to re-center the map on his current location.

As he expected, the phone did update his destination once he was in the small town of Waterflow, though it didn’t continue him on the highway like he thought. He took the indicated turn, following quiet morning streets in a not-quite-yet-awake town, soon turning off onto a rutted dirt road. The car bounced along the rough path, kicking up dust behind it and forcing him to roll the windows up.

He came to a farmhouse, pulling in beside another car and cutting the engine off, looking to the wide porch and the man standing on it. Tall, broad-shouldered but thin, with dark hair and eyes. He raised a hand slightly in greeting, Ryan returning the gesture as he left the car.

“You must be Ryan.” The man offered his hand as the brunette approached.

Ryan gave a curt nod, eyeing him suspiciously. “Bravo?” He didn’t think so, this guy didn’t have a British accent, but maybe that’d been a put-on.

“No. Name’s Heyman. Joel Heyman. If you want to come inside, there’s some coffee and breakfast waiting. Unfortunately you won’t really have time to sleep, we’re expecting the others to arrive any time now.” Ryan nodded again, following the man inside and immediately pouring himself a cup of strong black coffee, taking a drink.

“Who else is coming? Ray is, right?” He questioned as he loaded a plate with food, nearly salivating at the smells. It occurred to him that he hadn’t had a decent meal in about twenty hours, not wanting to waste the time to get food during the drive from Austin.

“Ray and Michael should be here soon, yes. Geoff and Jack are already here, but they’re in with their families. Bravo would like the five of you to gather in the living room once you’re all here.” He paused, seeming to consider something. “I guess he’ll be around then.”

Ryan took a seat, attacking his breakfast with gusto, his foot jiggling impatiently. Ray would be here soon and he’d be able to confirm for himself that he was okay. That was what was important. Whoever the other people this Heyman guy was talking about—Michael and Jack and Geoff—were unimportant.

Time seemed to crawl along, the clock barely moving every time he looked at it. Ten minutes ticked by as he ate, another five while he cleaned his dishes and drank a second cup of coffee. He estimated it’d been about twenty minutes since he’d arrived at the farmhouse and though he hadn’t seen anyone but Heyman in person (and the man had since disappeared outside), he’d heard soft voices coming from down the hall that ran next to the staircase at the back of the living room—what he guessed to be a bedroom or two.

With nothing else to do, he settled onto the couch, fingertips tapping out distracted patterns on his thighs. Driving had been bad, but at least he’d had something to do then, something to concentrate on. Now all he had was sitting and waiting for others to act, something he absolutely hated. Ryan debated on pacing, but that would really just leave him more restless. All he really wanted to do was—

A car approaching caught his attention and he was on his feet in a moment, stepping towards the wide front window, seeing Heyman and another man—broad shouldered and a little heavier than Heyman, just as tall, with curly dark hair—step out from around the side of the house. The curly-haired man approached the car as it stopped next to the one Ryan had been driving and his heart sped up to see Ray, leaping into his throat when he caught site of who the Puerto Rican was with.

It was that guy from the Hunters, the one he’d knocked unconscious by the room Ray had been kept in. The one that had broken Ray’s hand. Ryan saw red, wanting nothing more than to rush out there and put a bullet in the guy’s skull. He hesitated by the window, though, able to see the way Ray inched closer to the guy even through his anger. He couldn’t hear what words were said, but after a moment the two from the car followed the curly-haired man and Heyman inside.

Ryan was on him in a second, wrapping his arms around Ray and kissing him, uncaring of who was watching. He felt thin arms wrap around him in return, lips moving against his before Ray pulled away slightly, cheeks flushed. “I was worried about you…” The Puerto Rican admitted quietly, leaning up and kissing him again. “So worried.”

“I’m alright. And you’re alright, right?” He moved towards the couch again, settling down with the hacker, watching from the corner of his eye as the man from the car followed the curly-haired man from outside down the hallway next to the stairs and Heyman headed upstairs.

“I’m fine. Things were a little tense but everything worked out.” Ray leaned into his side, good hand settling on his thigh, stroking over the material of his jeans lightly. “Jesus, I was so fucking scared I wouldn’t see you again. Any idea what’s going on? Why are we here?”

“Good fuckin’ question.” A voice spoke up and Ryan was on his feet immediately, putting himself between the sleepy-eyed tattooed man that stood on the opposite side of the room and Ray. He started to reach for his gun, remembering belatedly that he’d left it in the car.

“Hey, take it easy.” The guy from the car, a shorter, younger-looking man with a beanie pushed low over his curly hair, spoke up. “We all were led here by Gavin and Bravo. We all have… pretty much the same information.” He waved his hands slightly, trying to shrug off the tattooed man’s grip on his shoulder.

“That’s true…” The bearded man behind the other two nodded and Ryan recognized him as the one he’d gotten to uncuff Ray what felt like a lifetime ago. “There’s no reason to jump to conclusions until we really know what’s going on.”

Ray was on his feet behind Ryan, one hand tentatively pressed to his back. “Ryan…” He muttered, fingers brushing along the older man’s spine. “It’s alright.”

–

“You sure can pick them, Gav.” Dan sighed, shaking his head as he listened to the audio feed from downstairs. Heyman had just come in to let them know that everyone was gathered, though he’d been quick to leave.

Gavin shrugged, offering a sheepish smile. “Thanks for this, Dan. I know, it’s… not easy.” He rubbed the back of his neck, sighing. “Come on, then, let’s go tell the truth.”

The two Brits made their way down the stairs and into the middle of the face-off in the living room, all attention immediately turning on them.

Dan stood slightly ahead of Gavin, his hands in his pockets and his slouched posture doing little to hide the fact that he could be very physically imposing if he wanted to. Gavin was just behind him, that same sheepish smile on his face as he made fleeting eye contact with everyone in the room.

Before anyone else could move, Michael had yanked himself out of Geoff’s grip, barreling past Dan without a second glance and grabbing the front of Gavin’s shirt. He shoved the Brit against the wall, leaning right into his face and staring him down.

“Just what the _fuck_ , Gavin!”

The sandy-haired man let himself be man-handled, only lifting a hand to wave Dan off when he took a step towards Michael. He sighed, waiting until the grip on his clothes had loosened to speak.

“I did wrong by you.” Again he made fleeting eye contact around the room, before focusing on the angry man before him. “I did wrong by all of you, but I’m going to make it right. We got you all out, and we’ll make sure that 5MG can’t trace you.” He set his hands over Michael’s, lowering his voice slightly. “It was never supposed to go this way.”

Finally, the grip on him slackened completely, the other man stepping away and across the room, falling into a chair. Gavin resumed his place next to Dan, offering a tentative smile. “Everyone, this is Bravo. Also known as Dan. He’s been my control for the last three years while I was on this assignment and my best mate since I can remember. He’s the reason you’re all alive.”

Dan waved a hand, making a face. “I’m the reason you’re alive, b. You’re the reason the rest of them are.” His dark eyes moved over each of the men in the room for a moment, before he pulled out a PDA.

“Three years ago, the actions of a small data-theft operation caught the attention of 5MG covert ops. Doing some digging, we discovered that the perpetrators behind some of the country’s most high profile data thefts had, in fact, all been contracting the same group, an outfit known as 6. With a little more information gathering we learned enough about the two members of 6 that we were able to build an agent who would be able to mesh in with them, be trusted by them, and gain access to them. Agent Gavin Free was quickly set up with a prolific history of covert intelligence theft across Europe.

“Around the same time, our countermeasures service began to see an increase in successful data protection cases in Austin, Texas. Again, we dug into it and discovered the Hunters, a pair of men who could be contracted to assist in any protection cases and who had a shocking track record. We put the information onto the back burner until the fateful day that some very smart man or woman who probably doesn’t make enough money for their genius realized that while the two American-based operations were a threat to 5MG, they were also a threat to each other. And what’s an easier way to take out two threats, than to have them destroy each other?

“With that in mind, a second agent was built. Gavin Free, a young man who only saw death around him, but always left unscathed. He had the kind of suicidal enthusiasm for the job that we knew would catch the attention of the leader of the Hunters, and happened to work for every firm in England that would want an expert like Geoffrey Ramsey to assist them.” Dan held out his hands between the two groups, nodding. “It took some careful planning, but two years ago Gavin Free joined both the Hunters and 6. After several months of intelligence gathering, 5MG began making efforts to pit the two groups against each other as often as possible. Surprisingly easy, considering you’re both based in Austin. You never wondered why it seemed to always be the same people on your tasks? Nevermind.”

Taking a breath, Dan looked over his shoulder to Gavin. “Unbeknownst to Agent Free or his control, someone at 5MG had decided they were both too dangerous to continue breathing after the 6/Hunters assignment. Hell, maybe it was the same person that put the whole idea together, I don’t know. But I happened to see something that I wasn’t cleared for, and things changed. Gavin’s been my best friend forever, and it’s my fault he ever got involved with 5MG, so I knew I had to get him out. He’s the one that matters to me.” Narrowing his eyes slightly, the dark-haired Brit looked around the group. “And you all matter to him, so when he asked me to get you out, I did it. As far as 5MG knows, all of you are probably dead.”

Silence followed, no one quite knowing what to say. After a moment, Gavin stepped in front of Dan, a smile twitching to his lips. “Everything I’ve ever said to you has been a lie. Every single word up until yesterday afternoon has been carefully calculated to further the goals I had—the goals 5MG gave me. But I’m not just… not just a puppet. I’m not going to just let them decide what happens anymore.” He shrugged, cheeks going warm when the only person to look at him was Geoff, the older man glaring. Looking to the floor, Gavin shuffled backwards.

“So what happens now?” Jack asked, eyes on Dan.

“Whatever you want. You’re all free to leave. I didn’t have time to set up new lives for everyone, and I don’t have access to the 5MG databases anymore, I’ve had to go completely off their grid. Turn in your communicators and phones and go wherever you like.” He waved a hand, frowning slightly. “I suggest that all of you split up, though. Just because 5MG thinks you’re dead doesn’t mean you should just jump back into your old lives.”

Jack and Geoff exchanged a glance, talking quietly with each other and Michael before the two men nodded. They headed back down the hall they’d come from, entering rooms at the end and soon emerging with their families. Geoff had one arm around Griffon’s shoulder and his little girl’s hand clasped in his, leading the way down the hall and out the door. He paused on the porch, talking quiet with Burnie and handing over his communicator and phone. He took a set of keys from him, helping his family into the car Michael and Ray had arrived in before leaving.

Shortly behind him were Jack and Caiti, carrying bags and hurrying out the front door. The bearded man handed the required items over to Burnie, the two of them entering the car he had arrived in with Geoff, backing off the dusty front lawn and leaving.

Michael hesitated, looking out the door and then back towards Gavin. He yawned, stretching his arms out. “Mind if I crash here for a bit before I take off?”

“Sure, sleep as long as you need to.” Dan nodded slightly, gesturing down the hall. “You can use one of the rooms there.” His gaze moved to the two on the couch as Michael walked off, an eyebrow raising.

Sometime between when Dan had finished is story and when he’d looked to the couch, the two had fallen asleep against each other, breathing evenly and comfortably. Gavin followed his gaze, smiling a little and stepping over to them. He carefully removed Ray’s glasses from their skewed position on his face, setting them on an end table before he pulled a blanket from the back of the sofa. He tucked it around the two, lips pressing to their foreheads in short kisses before turning his attention back to Dan.

“What about us, b?”

“You know our plan, Gav. You wanna say goodbye to Michael first?”

Hesitating and chewing his lip, Gavin nodded. “I owe him that much…”

“I’ll finish up here. Joel will take care of them until they both clear out. Burnie’s anxious to be done with this.” Dan waved him down the hall, Gavin hurrying in the direction Michael had gone.

–

He heard the footsteps in the hallway and the creak of the bedroom door opening but didn’t turn away from the wall, curled up on the bed with his eyes resolutely closed. He heard the soft whisper of his name on Gavin’s lips but didn’t let himself flinch, tried to keep his breathing even as if he were already asleep.

He felt the weight on the bed shift, thin arms wrapping around his torso and a bony chest pressed to his back. Warm breath ghosting over the back of his neck as Gavin got comfortable, a sensation that was so painfully familiar Michael almost groaned. After a moment he sighed, giving in to the other man. “What.”

“I’m sorry, Michael.” He didn’t move at the words, didn’t tense his shoulders even though he wanted to. Gavin continued after the quiet stretched too long, nuzzling lightly into the back of his neck. “I never wanted this to happen to you, not since… you know when. But I didn’t have a choice, I had to do this and—“

“Gavin.” He cut him off, rolling over in the loose embrace and staring at him, brown eyes no less intense with his exhaustion. “You said so yourself earlier. Everything was planned. Nothing you’ve ever said or done has meant anything. It’s all lies.”

“But this isn’t a–!”

“Whatever, Gavin.” He closed his eyes, settling onto the pillow and sighing. “I’m not even going to get mad at you. You don’t deserve a genuine emotion like anger, you lying sack of shit. I nothing you. You’re nothing to me. Everything that you were or might have been is fucking bullshit that someone made up. I doubt Gavin Free is even your real name.”

“Michael, please…”

“Leave me alone. I just want to sleep and then go find a new life. Go away.”

He waited, refusing to look, refusing to acknowledge the real hurt he heard in Gavin’s voice. He’d heard what he thought were real emotions in the man’s voice before, happiness and anger and confusion. He wasn’t going to fall for it, not ever again.

After a little while, Gavin let go of him and left the bed. Michael fell asleep, unaware of anything in the world around him, unaware of the drying tears on the pillow where Gavin had lain.


End file.
